Butter color mixer



July 9, 1940 l.. R. THOMAS ET Al.

BUTTER COLOR MIXER Filed June 28, 1939 Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE BUTTER COLOR MIXER Thomas Application June 28, 1939, Serial No. 281,630

2 Claims.

This invention relates to means for mixing materials, particularly for mixing colo-r matter into fatty materials intended to be employed as an edible butter. It is a common practice for '5' manufacturers to offer to the public uncolored fats in brick or molded forms together with a capsule containing the color matter to be added by the purchaser.

, It is an extremely diiiicult job for the pur- Chaser to incorporate this coloring matter into the fats uniformly where the usual quantity is in pound lots and the mixing means heretofore offered constituted simply a bowl and a fork or spoon or some other hand operated tool.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a very simple structure that may be produced and offered to the public at a relatively low price and still be very easily operated and also be extremely effective and rapid in the mixing operation.

A. further important object of the invention is to provide a simple mixing device that may be readily 4de-mounted for cleansing purposes as Well as for loading and emptying. A still further important object of the invention is to provide means as above indicated that may be operated bly hand power without having to employ electric motors or the like.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description'of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a central transverse vertical section through a structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 2, a top plan view in partial section; Fig. 3, a detail in section on the line 3-3 in Fig. l;

Fig. 4, a detail in section on the line 4-4 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 5, a detail in section on the line 5 5 in Fig. 1. l

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in the drawing.

A suitable receptacle I0 is employed to receive The cover I2 has a centrally positioned boss 10y Y I5 with a square hole extending vertically therethrough. A shaft I6, square in cross section, siidingly passes through the hole in the boss I5. The shaft I6 is twisted into spiral form, as

indicated in Fig. 1, so that when the shaft is 15v is shifted upwardly and downwardly through the hole in the boss I5, the shaft will have to turn about its axis in its longitudinal travel.

'I'he upper end of the shaft I6 is provided with a reduced end II cylindrical in form to re- 2'0 ceive a boss I8 downwardly thereover to have its'lower end abut the shoulder formed at the upper end of the square portion of the shaft I6 from which the cylindrical part extends. The

upper end of the shaft I6 is deformed in some manner, such as by riveting it outwardly over the outer end of the boss IU so that the boss I8 will be retained on that cylindrical end of the shaft I6 and will be free to revolve therearound.

A suitable handle I9 is secured to the top side of the boss I8 as a means of lifting and lowering the shaft I6.

On the lower end of the shaft I6 under the cover i2 are attached the mixing blades 20, herein shown as four in number, spaced ninety 35 degrees around one from the other. Each blade 20 preferably has a thin lower edge from which the blade increases in thickness toward its top. The upper portion of each blade 20 terminates in a number of fingers 2i, herein shown as four in number in each case, the lengths of the fingers increasing from the center outwardly in part while the extreme outer finger is slightly shorter than the next inner finger. These fingers are Well spaced apart as indicated in Fig. 1. Preferably the four blades 20 are formed in an integral piece with a central hub 22 having a hole therethrough. The lower part of this hole is circular in cross-section, as indicated in Fig. 5 where a cylindrical part 23 of the shaft I6 passes 50, revolvably therethrough. The upper part of the hole is not circular in cross-section but square as indicated in Fig. 4, to receive that square end of the shaft I6 immediately above the lower cylindrical end 23. 'Ihe length of the cylindrical 55 part 23 is made to be such in accordance with the thickness of the hub 22 that the hub 22 may drop downwardly along the shaft against a stop 2li, herein shown as a washer, to permit the square end of the shaft I6 to be clear and slightly above the top side of the hub 22, thereby permitting the hub 22 and its blades 20 to turn freely about the lower end of the shaft I5 when the hub 22 is in that lower position.

Now assuming that the cake of material has been placed in the receptacle I9, the cover l2 is placed in position on the top of the receptacle l and the blades 25 will then rest on the top end of the cake. Pressure on the handle I9 is required to push the blades 2U down through the cake and this means that the shaft it will push downwardly in relation to the hub 22 and thereby cause the square end of the shaft I E5 to enter into the squared part of the hole through the hub 22. This action causes the shaft I6 to engage with the hub 22 in such manner that when the handle I9 is pushed downwardly, the shaft i5 revolves and accordingly turns the blades 20 during the travel of the shaft it downwardly as indicated by the dash lines in Fig. l. It is assumed that the coloring matter has been poured over the top end of the cake before the cover l2 has been positioned on the receptacle l0.

When the blades 2Q reach the lower end of the receptacle iii, which should be in very close proximity thereto, the handle I9 is then pulled upwardly. Since the blades 28 meet with resistance in being pulled up through the cake, the shaft i ii will travel upwardly in relation to the hub 2E until the washer 2liA strikes the under side of the hub 22. In this relative position, the square end of the shaft IE has been lifted from engagement with the hub 22 and the blades 28 will then travel straight up through the cake without any appreciable turning action, or at least any power driven turning action although the shaft it revolves on its axis in that upward travel. This means that in the reverse upward travel, the ngers 2i cut different paths through the fatty material than they did in taking the spiral paths when forced downwardly therethrough. The action is repeated over and over again by pushing down and lifting up on the handle I9 until the coloring matter is thoroughly mixed throughout the fatty mass.

The cover i2 may then be removed and the mixed material taken out. The ngers 2l may be given a slight angle of inclination from the vertical, as indicated in Figs. l and 2, to facilitate the spiral travel through the material. This angle is slight, however, so that the principal travel upwardly of the blades 20 is in straight line travel rather than spiral travel.

While we have herein shown and described our invention in the one best form as now known to us, it is obvious that structural changes may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention and we, therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations as may be imposed by the following claims.

We claim:

l. In a color mixer, a receptacle, a cover, a spiral shaft longitudinally shiftable through the cover, means causing the shaft to revolve as it travels through the cover, a plurality of mixing blades, a hub carrying the blades and vertically shiftably carried by said shaft on its lower end, a bearing on the lower end of the shaft about which said hub normally freely revolves, and means engaging the hub in xed driving relation with the shaft when the hub travels relatively upwardly along said bearing, said hub engaging means consisting of a non-circular sectioned portion of the shaft entering into a like sectioned bore in the hub.

2. In a butter color mixer, a butter receptacle, a cover detachably carried on the receptacle, a spiral shaft square in cross-section slidingly passed through a square hole in said cover to impart rotary motion to the shaft upon longitudinal travel thereof, a hub carried on the lower end of the shaft, a plurality of cutting and mixing blades extending laterally from the hub to terminate in close proximity to the wall of said receptacle, said hub having a bore therethrough with the upper part square in cross-section and the lower part round in cross-section, a cylindrical part on the lower end of said shaft revolvably passing through the bore of said hub and having a length slightly greater than the height of said hub, whereby the hub may revolve freely about said shaft when the hub is in its extreme lower position, but is fixed in driving relation to the shaft when the shaft is carried down to have its square portion above said cylindrical part engage in the square part of said hub bore.

LOUIS R. THOMAS. FENTON E. STEWART, 

